Safety oil-can



(No Model.)

WfBBLL.

SAFETY OIL CAN. 5 No. 585,500. Patented June 29, 1897..

INVENTOR vbw.

WITNESSES mowers.

NITED STATES PATENT FFICE.

WILLIAM BELL, BAY SIDE, NEW YORK.

SAFETY- OIL-CAN.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 585,500, dated June 29, 1897. Application filed February 8, 1897. Serial No. 622,521. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM BELL, of Bay Side, in the county of Queens and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Safety Oil-Can, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The object of the invention is to provide a new and improved safety oil-can, more especially designed for filling oil-lamps, and arranged to prevent overflow by closing the airinlet to the oil-lamp and giving a signal to the operator that the lamp is filled to the proper level, the device also indicating when the can is empty and the lamp is not filled to the proper height.

The invention consists principally of an air-inlet pipe for the oil-can'and extending from the nozzle thereof into the upper end of the can, and a vessel adapted to contain a liquid and connected with the said air-inlet or vent pipe, the vessel being also provided with an air-inlet opening into the liquid below the level thereof.

The invention also consists of certain parts and details and combinations of the same, as will be fully described hereinafter and then pointed out in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the improvement. Fig. 2 is a sectional side elevation of the same on the line 2 2 of Fig. 3 and as applied for filling the lamp, and Fig. 3 is a plan view of the improvement.

The oil-can A is provided with the usual nozzle B, adapted to be passed with its outer end into the fount of the lamp to be filled, the nozzle being provided with an adjustable stop 0, adapted to limit the distance the free end of the nozzle is to pass into the fount of the oil-lamp by the said stop abutting against the filling-nozzle of the fount. From the free end of the nozzle B extends an air-inlet or vent pipe D, opening into the upper end A of the can A, so as to supply the latter with the necessary air to insure a free flow of the oil from the can A, through the nozzle B, into the fount of the lamp.

The can A is provided at its upper end with the usual filling-spout normally closed by a suitable cap E, so that air can only pass into the can A by way of the vent-pipe D. The latter is connected by a branch pipe F with the upper end of a closed vessel G, preferably made of glass and set in a recess A formed in the wall of the upper end A of the can. A suitable band II extends across the vessel G, so as to hold the same permanently in position in its recess A The vessel Gis adapted to be filled with Water or other liquid, and a pipe I extends into the vessel to within a short distance of the bottom thereof, the outer end of the pipe being provided with a nozzle 1' for supplying the vessel with the necessary liquid.

Now when the can is used for filling the lamp, as shown in Fig. 2, air passes into the can by way of the vent-pipe D, and when the fount of the lamp is finally filled to the proper level the oil extends into the outer end of the vent-pipe D, so as to prevent air from passing through the vent-pipe into the can A to retard the flow of the liquid from the can through the nozzle B. As the oil still flows from the can A a vacuum is formed, and consequently air is sucked through the pipe I into the vessel G, the air passing in bubbles through the liquid contained in'the vessel to finally pass by way of the branch pipe F and ventpipe D into the can A. Now it is evi dent that the operator is at once notified of the filling of the lamp to the proper level as soon as the bubbles make their appearance in the vessel G.

In case the can A runs empty while filling the fount and before the latter is filled to the proper level the operator soon discovers this fact, as the bubbles do not appear in the vessel G, thus indicating that the can A has run empty and the lamp'fount is not filled to the proper level. It will further be seen that the device is very simple and durable in construction and can be readily arranged on all kinds of cans in use for the purpose described.

Having thus fully described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. A device of the class described, provided with an air-vent pipe for the can, extending from the nozzle thereof into the upper end of the can, and a vessel adapted to contain a liquid and connected with the said vent-pipe,

the vessel being also provided with an air-inlet opening into the liquid below the level thereof, substantially as shown and described.

2. A device of the class described, comprising a vent-pipe for the can and extending from the nozzle thereof into the upper end of the can, a branch pipe leading from the said vent-pipe, a vessel carried by the can and adapted to contain a liquid, the upper end of the vessel being connected withthe said 10 branch pipe, and an air-inlet pipe extending into the said vessel to Within a short distance of the bottom thereof, substantially as shown and described.

, WILLIAM BELL. Witnesses Tnno. G. Hosrnn, JNo. M. BITTER. 

